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A Bethesda teenager pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a destructive device in federal court on last week.

Collin McKenzie-Gude, 19, who has been in custody since last July on federal explosives and false identification charges, on Sept. 23 pleaded guilty to the charge in a deal with federal prosecutors. In exchange for his plea the false identification charge was dropped.

McKenzie-Gude's attorney, Steven Kupferberg, said his client did possess the explosive devices, but did not intend to harm anyone.

"When you're in possession of something you're in possession of something," he said. "But there was not a plot to kill anybody at any time."

McKenzie-Gude of Bethesda and Patrick Yevsukov, 18, of Gaithersburg were arrested last year after a police raid on McKenzie-Gude's home turned up more than 50 pounds of chemicals, assault rifles, a school faculty list, two bulletproof vests loaded with armor-piercing ammunition and a document explaining how to kill a person from 200 meters away.

McKenzie-Gude surrendered to police July 30, 2008, after police raided his home in Bethesda's Ashburton neighborhood.

He was charged with explosives and weapons offenses and was released on $115,000 bond. He was arrested a second time on July 31 on charges he detonated homemade explosives in Gaithersburg in July 2007.

McKenzie-Gude was indicted on the federal explosives and false identification charges in November.

In court on Sept. 23, McKenzie-Gude spoke very little, responding to U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte's questions with a simple "Yes, sir," or "No, your honor."

Sentencing for the teen will take place on Jan. 7, 2010. The U.S. District Attorney's Office is seeking five to six years in prison for the teen, while Kupferberg hopes his client will only receive between 27 and 33 months.

"We cannot know for certain what Collin McKenzie-Gude would have done if law enforcement had not acted," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a statement after the plea. "What we know for certain is that he made and exploded pipe bombs and had the components to build new explosive devices."

In addition to the explosive charge, McKenzie-Gude is awaiting sentencing for attempted carjacking, which he pleaded guilty to earlier this year. The carjacking sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13, court records indicate, but will most likely occur after the explosives sentencing, Kupferberg said.

Prior to the plea, McKenzie-Gude faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the explosives charge, Messitte said in court last week.

Yevsukov, 18, of Gaithersburg, was charged in connection with McKenzie-Gude, and pleaded guilty to a variety of charges in January. He could face up to four years in jail.

Kupferberg said he hopes McKenzie-Gude and Yevsukov will receive similar sentences, saying his client was not the mastermind the U.S. Attorney's Office paints him as.

"Collin is one of the finest kids I've ever met," he said. "I think some misinformation caused his side of the story to be too sexy for the feds to turn down."